Birthdays....

Just wanted to wish my friend Casey and my brother-in-law Levi a happy birthday.. A few things about both that I love...


Casey...

1- She is the happiest person I know, always smiling and kind to everyone, the world would be a much better place if everyone were like this...
2- She is a great mom to Mack, and even somedays to my Stockton...:)
3- She is always dressed so cute, her sense of style is really admirable.
4- She has a heart of gold, always finding the best in everyone.. Love this..
5- Her photoshopping skills are something to be admired...
6- So creative, comes up with the cutest things..
7- She is a great friend to everyone and is always going out of her way to make someones day, doing the little things in life that most of us forget...
Thanks Casey for being one of my best friends, love ya...

Levi....

1- He is a great husband to my sister, loves her so much.
2- Is always good to play with my kids, (even when some days I know he doesn't want too.) He will make a great daddy some day...
3- So mellow and always happy, I don't think I have ever seen him get mad...
4- Works out of town, away from my sister to provide for them... (I really admire this, I don't know if I could do it..)
5- Loves his family very much... They mean the world to him... Love that...
6- Accepts all of us as his family, (he's gotta be a keeper for that right?)
Thanks Levi for being a part of our family and for being so good to my sister... Love ya...

14 Years...

I just want to wish my hubby a Happy Anniversary today... I can hardly believe that it has been 14 years... I am so blessed to have him in my life.. He is the most caring, loving, thoughtful, kind and hardworking man I know... Not to mention he is an outstanding dad to our kids... Thanks honey for an amazing 14 years together and hoping for 50+ more... I love you, thanks for all you do for me and the kids, you are simply amazing...


Isn't it great to look at old pictures? Man how time has changed us... Troy is still just as handsome as he was back then ...


Also want to give a little shout out to my grandma, it is her birthday today too. What an amazing day this was, my Grandma's birthday and marrying my soul mate.. :) Bliss...

Awww

The boys were so funny the other night, sacked out in the car, I couldn't resist snapping a pic... Though Jaden was having no part of this sleep fest...

Insight

These are a few things in the last week I have come to know for sure:
1- No matter how bad I feel some days about my life, there is someone, somewhere who is fighting a much larger battle.
2- Diet Coke & a little chocolate can make anything better.. :)
3- My kids will always and forever make me laugh, thanks Stockton for making my night by explaining to me about the dangerous chemical "catratbutt" in cigarettes; Still laughing at that..
4- Kids have this unconditional forgiving love no matter what, wish everyone had this..
5 In the end its not about what you have in life, but who you have...
6- It's nice to have friends who help you find humor in things you don't understand.... Thanks Casey for helping me see that...
7- Garden tomatoes are still one of my favorite foods..
8- I am the only one who can decide how happy I am.
9- I have the best family and friends....
10- I am thankful for another day...

Growing Up

We finally made the HUGE step and moved our baby (or not so much of a baby anymore) from a crib to a big boy bed.. He is almost 2 and growing bigger every day... He has hated his crib for quite some time now, and detests any part of it... I have been dragging my feet on this one, but finally had to admit it was time, that I really needed my bed back... :) It was a bittersweet day for me, Jaden becoming a very independent toddler but a step closer to my baby no longer being a baby.. :( I am not sure who was more excited about his new bed, him or Cole. Cole has slept in it with him every night... :)

Crazy Corn Maze

We ventured out Monday night to take the kids to the corn maze... Now its been several years since I have been to one, but I figured we could be in and out in half an hour... He he he... As we bought our tickets they asked us if we wanted to buy a tiny flashlight for a dollar, couldn't hurt right? We bought the kids each one, and let's just say if we hadn't we would have been there hours, and hours... I know by looking at the pictures it doesn't look dark, (love flash cameras) but it was pitch black... They gave us a map (which may have well been in another language, cause I dang sure couldn't read it), and thanks to my very smart hubby who can actually read maps we weren't there until midnight, if the kids had depended on my map skills alone, ya hours... They also gave us this questionnaire (all corn trivia) to punch as we found the 10 stations throughout the maze... We only got one wrong, and in turn got bowling passes and free kids meals to Johnny Carinos... YEAH!!! We owe our huge success to our map qwest (Troy)... Despite the mud (only 2 inches on our shoes when we left), Cole being tired, and Jaden freezing (poor sick baby) we had a BLAST!!!! Can't wait to go again, when the ground dries up...

Friday....

Well Troy is on his 12Th day of working 30+ days straight... I am not sure which one of us will be more ready for him to have a day off... I sure miss him, I feel like sometimes I take for granted the days he is home with us, can't wait for him to be off.. :)

We were able to go out last night and get the kids costumes before they were all gone... Cole had a great idea (as he put it) he wanted to be Batman, have Courtnee be Batgirl, Stockton be Joker, and have Jaden be a bat (Old Navy, so cute)... However me and Jaden were the only ones on board with his whole Gunderson family costume idea... Oh well, I guess they have to pick for themselves what they want to be, although just once I would like to dress them all... I guess that is the advantage of having kids that can talk and understand the meaning of Halloween huh, at least I can still pick out Jaden's (smile)... So Cole ended up with Batman, Stockton the Metal Skull Biker, Courtnee A 70's hippie girl, and Jaden the bat... I cannot believe how much costumes are these days, holy cow... I remember back when I was a kid and the costumes were all plastic and came with the matching plastic mask and were easily under 10 bucks.. And when I was a teenager if we dressed up, we just scurried through closets and found whatever and it was FREE!!!! Those were the days, just simple but still fun...

Looking forward to the weekend, it is conference weekend and supposed to rain and storm all weekend... Stockton has an early Basketball game tomorrow and then I think we are just going to chill for the whole weekend... I think I am going to stay inside and catch up on some much needed scrapbooking... It's way passed due for me to have some scrapping-therapy..... :)